Web User - UK (2019-11-13)

46 13 - 26 November 2019

WINDOWSPC
If youboughtyourPCorlaptop
withWindows 10 preinstalled,the
chancesarethatitsdefaultnameis
somethingboringandimpersonalsuch
asLAPTOP-7K916AKM.Equally,if your
computerhada previousowner,its
namemaybesomethinglikeSUSANS-
PC,whichcanproveannoyingif your
nameisn’tSusan.Fortunately,it’svery
easytorenameyoursystemto
somethingmoresuitable.Openthe
Windows 10 Startmenuandchoose
Settings,thenclickSystem,About.
Inthe‘Devicespecifications’section,
clickthe‘RenamethisPC’buttonand
enteryourdesiredPCname– thiscan
includeletters,numbersandhyphens,
butnospacesorspecialcharacters.
ClickNextthenrestartyourPCto
confirmthechange.
InWindows7 or8.1,youcanrename
yourcomputerbyopeningtheControl
Panelandchoosing‘Systemand
Security’,System,‘Advancedsystem
settings’.ClicktheComputerNametab
atthetopoftheSystemPropertiesbox,
thenclicktheChangebutton,typeyour
newPCnameandclickOK.

APPLEMAC

Ona macOSdesktopcomputeror

MacBook,clicktheApplemenuin the

top-leftcornerofyourscreenandselect

SystemPreferences.SelecttheSharing

buttonin theInternet& Networksection

andtypea newnameforyourMacin

theComputerNameboxatthetopof

thewindow.Thiswillappearonyour

homenetworkandbedisplayed

internallyonyourcomputer.

LINUXPC

Theexactprocedureforrenaming

a Linuxcomputerdiffersbetween

distributions,butif you’rerunningLinux

Mintoranother

Ubuntu-basedLinux

distro,youcanusually

dosobyeditingthe

‘hostname’file.Press

Ctrl+Alt+Ttoopena

terminalwindow,then

typesudo gedit /

etc/hostname

andpressEnterto

openthefilein the

graphicalGedittext

editor.Deletethe

existinghostname

fromthefile,replace

You don’t need to stick with th

dull default namesfor devices.

Robert Irvine explains the easi

ways to personaliseyour hardw

and callit whateveryou want

it withyournewdesiredPCnameand

clickSave.

Next,you’llneedtoeditthe‘hosts’

file,whichalsocontainsyourPC’s

defaultname.Typesudo gedit /

etc/hostsin a terminalwindow,press

Enterandlookforthehostnamein the

filethatopens(thisshouldbein a line

thatbegins127.0.1.1orsimilar).Again,

replacethiswithyourpreferredname

andsavethetextfile.

RebootyourPCtoapplythechanges

andconfirmitsnewname.Forother

Linuxdistros,searchthewebfor

“changehostnameon[nameofLinux

distribution]”togetinstructions.

WIRELESS ROUTER

If you leave your router’s name –

known as the Service Set Identifier

(SSID) – set to the default of something

like ‘BTHomeHub-1234’, other people

can identify its make. This potentially

gives hackers the info they need to

target your network, particularly if your

router has a known flaw. It also makes

your SSID easy to mistake for

neighbours’ networks that have

similarly generic names.

To rename your SSID, open your web

browser and log into your router

settings. The IP address is usually

something like 192.168.0.1 – check the

Change your PC’s name to something more interesting and
personal

Rename your Mac by going to the Sharing

tab of your System Preferences

Edit the hostname and hosts files in Linux

to change your PC’s name

he

est

ware